Yes, that was cursing! But well worth it because no other words can express my surprise that Katawa Shoujo actually came to life.

What is it? A visual novel.

What is it about? A high school for young girls with disabilities, seen from the perspective of a new male patient.

Ok, sounds like a typical H-game scenario.

Why the big deal?

It's made by Westerners!

Specifically a collection of Anonymous from Yotsuba's /a/ (formerly 'old' /a/, when the project got started) who have worked for two years to bring this to life. And holy fuck, it looks amazing.

I remember the EXACT TOPIC where Katawa Shoujo was first spawned - there was a sticky and everything - and people were really eager to try and work their hands with this project. Myself included! This was back in 2006. Nothing much happened, interest was lost, the forums died and the project seemed dead.

In 2007, the group that formed "Four Leaf Studios" came together from that rubble and pooled their resources to present this humble little demo.

if /a/ didn't suck so badly, what with the content split that made visual novels non-kosher, this would be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb going off in an age where people don't believe bombs exist or explode anymore.

I would like to play this game but I am anxious about something. On the one hand, this game could just be a vehicle for the creators to express their love of extremely /d/eviant fetishes like amputated women, one-eyed women with the archetypal Japanese eyepatch, or mentally retarded women. That sort of thing -- an expression of love specifically for mentally or physically-mutilated women, if made obvious, could repulse a lot of potential supporters. On the other hand, if the game instead focuses on a toned-down representation of disabilities, and showcases for example paraplegic girls, girls who are blind because of their brains and not because of their eyes, and girls with terminal illnesses like aggressive leukemia or ALS, then this could be a godsend for the world community. It'd be a very noble gesture (whether that's the creators' intention or not) to produce a game which shows that disabled girls are awesome, too, and have big hearts and big dreams.

That includes amputees, women with hollow eye sockets, women with acid burns all over their faces, etc., by the way. But I'm just saying that if the game is all about the extreme cases of physical and mental disabilities that it'll probably be too much too soon and only appeal to a very niche audience.

Reminds me of a picture I saw last month of a beautiful girl. She was physically gorgeous, like a supermodel, and her personality was bubbling, happy, intelligent, and strong. She had a pilot's license to fly airplanes on her own. She had a college degree. And she had no arms. None: since infancy, she learned to use her legs as both legs and arms. She could fly a plane, apply mascara, you name it. Gorgeous -- but armless. "But" being the tragic keyword there. It's really too bad that we're so judgmental, myself included.

And on that note, I'll say that while I normally never go for the token disabled girl in eroge, I'm definitely going to check out Katawa Shoujo. Sounds like it could be an amazing experience if it's done right.

There is one problem for me that I just noticed, though: all of the girls are on the loli-er side of the spectrum. I understand that this is a high school eroge, but none of the girls seems all that developed. It might have been cool if, like Narcissu before it, the game was set in a medical institute and therefore had access to women of a wide range of ages and builds. That could have been pretty maturely handled, too, if they went about it by making the main character 18 to 19 years old -- young enough to date a 15-year old, old enough to date a young women in her mid-20s.

Instead of complaining, though, I suppose I'll have to get to work on a fangame of my own. This team is definitely giving me inspiration that it can be done!

I haven't kept in touch with how it's going, but I do know Emiri was redesigned at one point, apparently because the artists felt that she was a "Tsukihime character in Fate/stay night" as far as style is concerned.

I'm not worried - it's just that the creative complex that brought together the people who made the demo (Yotsuba /a/) has collapsed, so what goes on in dev isn't as transparent as what the blog would have had people believe.

It looks like the team is still active but that Act 1 remains their only release. They have yet to finish this game, from the look of things. Whether it's really delayed (e.g. they don't have the plot details figured out yet), delayed (e.g. they don't have all the dialogue written yet), or only partially delayed (e.g. they haven't coded it yet but it's otherwise done), I have no clue. But it would be nice to see a finished product. It's been almost one full year with no developments as far as we non-project team members can tell. One year ago, you were free to sample Act 1. One year later, you're still free to sample Act 1.

Oh well. I'm happy to see blog updates pertinent to the game and less than one week old.

Considering there was a three year gap between nothing, then suddenly ACT 1, I'll not worried the project is in any danger. It's partially supported (and staffed) by key members of the VN Wiki, so I doubt things will go under. Something similar happened with the UBW/HF project, and when it was released we were treated to a voice patch along with it.

Screenshots were featured in some JP magazine for crying out loud, they couldn't be more proud.

Last I heard they were working on a complete graphic overhaul, to improve what was already awesome to begin with. It seems like an issue of misplaced priorities, but if they can do it they might as well.

Still no developments as far as a non-team member can tell. The blog was last updated a few weeks ago, and most of the updates between now and August are only loosely related to the project. This isn't always the case, however:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moekki

We've neglected the blog for quite a while, thanks to most of us grinding the tasks we have to do, so this makes the first blog post in a while.

So that's good to hear. It'd be nice to have both blog updates and work done on the project, but I'll take just work from them over just blogging any day of the week.

================================

I thought to check in to the project's status again because of a story I just read by one of the many, many H-artists whose work I follow. It's the second chapter in his latest tankoubon, Sarashi-Ai. The story is about two classmates, a boy named Daisuke and a girl named Tsukino. Daisuke is something of a quiet loner with not many friends, but Tsukino, who lived nearby, would always cheerily say "Good morning!" to him and would wait for him to get dressed before running up the hill to school. Then one day, Tsukino doesn't come to school anymore. Daisuke doesn't know all the details, but he learns that Tsukino has a blood disorder which has robbed her the use of her legs and will cause her physical pain for the rest of her life. The cheery girl he once knew, now bound to a wheelchair, is still her cheery self: and she asks Daisuke one day to help wheel her up the hill to school so she can say good-bye to everybody before starting her new school life at a school which is more handicap-accessible.

The story goes from there. If you're interested, be sure to check it out. Warnings about content in the spoiler box which follows.

Shindou L, better known to many of us for years by his doujinshi circle name of Da Hootch, is known for drawing some pretty sloppy sex. What I mean by "sloppy" is, this stuff isn't hardcore, but it's also not clean. This is eyes-rolled-back, tongue-lolling-out, girl-drowning-in-pleasure sort of stuff. If that bothers you, then I would not suggest checking out either this story or any other of his work.

Next, Daisuke at one point in the story takes hold of Tsukino's leg, pulls off her socks and shoes, and starts to lick her feet. Yeah, this is kinda gross. But it serves a plot purpose in this story since Tsukino responds negatively to Daisuke's behavior ("That's gross!") and Daisuke then says something romantic, I guess, in his own fetishist sort of way ("There's not one-ten thousandth of a millimeter on your body which is gross"). So that's that. (Also: it's not unexpected coming from Shindou Eru. For future reference, if you do decide to look for more work by this author: he is fond of sweating women and/or women who have been sweating so much that they now have body odor. Certainly not on my list of fetishes, but I can overlook it in favor of the other things I love about this author's storytelling. Whether or not you can is up to you to decide.)

I dunno. I thought the story was very cute (and of course very erotic), and I really liked the ending. If you want to know how the story ends and you're not planning to check it out for yourself anyway, go ahead and click the spoiler box below.

Tsukino looks for Daisuke who has gone to the school rooftop to brood in solitude. Daisuke isn't happy at all to be losing Tsukino, but he knows that her transfer is for the best. Tsukino surprises him by pulling herself unassisted, wheelchair and all, up the long flight of stairs to the school roof to find him. Daisuke then realizes how special Tsukino is to him and, without so much as a word, interrupts her in mid-sentence with a kiss.

He asks her if she dislikes it. She tells him no. She tells him that she likes him. And she tells him to try it again -- but this time, make it a grown-up kiss.

Stuff happens from there, of course.

When the story ends, the two are watching the sunset from the top of the school roof. Tsukino wistfully says to Daisuke, "I guess we won't be seeing each other any more." After all, starting tomorrow, Tsukino will be going to a new school. Daisuke then surprises her with his announcement: "Well, I'm ... tomorrow, I'm transferring. To a barrier-free school. (This means a school that is handicap-accessible.)" Awwwwwww. Tsukino tells Daisuke in the final cel, "I see. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow" with a big, happy smile on her face.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

That look of surprise on her face in the second cel on Page 53 is just priceless. lol "W-what just happened? " is written all over it. hahaha

I wish these guys the very best. I've been waiting to play this game since you first told me about it several years ago. I had checked in on the site (and seen some interesting updates) a few months back, but nothing to warrant a post-bump in the thread. However, seeing that they've conclusively finished certain girls' arcs (like Lilly and Hanako) is good news indeed. It means, hopefully, that they're very close to finishing other girls' arcs as well and that all we have to wait for at this point is for the artists to draw up the HCGs which correspond with the newest scenes. (For example, if Hanako's ending has a new twist now, the artist will have to draw that CG again.)

The more progress they make, the worse I feel about not trying to stick with the project. There was no way I could have meaningfully contributed back in 2006, but after playing all these VNs in short succession, I've grown more than attatched to the style and want to try and write one. If I ever do, it'll likely merge with the mahjong applet/client I want to design with Morg - a mahjong VN would be something pretty novel indeed!

Since KS is divided into paths, I can't help but wonder if we'll ever see partial releases. It's hardly the norm for TL's (indeed, amaterasu was unusual in doing it for ML) but something aking to another demo would be most welcome.

Also Talon, check out the art on vndb's KS page. Do you have a larger version of this, by any chance? I've been scouring the seven seas for one but haven't found it yet.

Also Talon, check out the art on vndb's KS page. Do you have a larger version of this, by any chance? I've been scouring the seven seas for one but haven't found it yet.

First I've seen it. It's a neat da Vinci-style picture, to be sure, but I wasn't able to find a trace of it anywhere online. I tried looking through Google Images. I went through Shimmie (the Katawa Shoujo version of Danbooru) like 50 pages from front and from end. (Maybe I missed it? Or maybe it was somewhere in the middle?) I even tried a few random sites like Zero-chan.net. No dice. Let me try Pixiv ... nope, nothing. I mean, they have four pages of stuff (very little by Pixiv standards), but none of the hits for かたわ少女 turned up your da Vinci-esque picture. Sorry. I'd like it, too, so if you find the larger-res one first, let me know. I'll be sure to try and remember to let you know if I find it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

{I} want to try and write one. If I ever do, it'll likely merge with the mahjong applet/client I want to design with Morg - a mahjong VN would be something pretty novel indeed!

I've wanted to write one for ages as well. A visual novel, I mean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Since KS is divided into paths, I can't help but wonder if we'll ever see partial releases. It's hardly the norm for TL's (indeed, amaterasu was unusual in doing it for ML) but something aking to another demo would be most welcome.

What do you mean? Katawa Shoujo is being made by English-speaking people so it's not really similar to your Muv-Luv situation. And already they made it pretty clear that it's a three-act game but that they didn't want to release Acts 2 and 3 separately from Act 1. Finally, you already know that they did do a partial release by releasing Act 1 all by itself four separate times (hence Act 1 version 4 being the newest release), sooooo ... I'm kind of confused as to what you're asking here or why you'd be asking it.

The team's issued some blog updates in the past few weeks. No new information about a release date, but it's still good to see that they're updating and giving us hope that they're making progress on this.

In the meantime, have some Misha fanart. It's kind of amusing how Misha, being a pathless girl with a huge fan following, has turned into this game's Sayuri (Kanon). Beautiful, beautiful girl. But no path. I don't even know why she's in the institute though. Does she even have a handicap? Maybe it'll be revealed in the game that she has a psychiatric handicap. And that's why she looks perfectly normal yet goes to this private academy.

I know when I looked at the demo, I desperately wanted [Misha] over many of the other girls except Emi and Rin.

Nah, I still have eyes only for Hanako. I'll play the other paths, of course, but I'm pretty much getting this game for Hanako's path alone. It'll be interesting to see if one can successfully dock onto Hanako's path on a first play-through or not though. I wonder if you have to get Emi first: in which case, I wonder if shooting for Hanako so ardently is going to net me a Bad End on my very first playthrough?

How did, "I'd love to play Hanako's path first" transform into "I really only want Hanako and will play the other paths for completion's sake" I looked at Hanako's measurements, so aside from the long hair and her timid complexion complex, I don't see what gets your gears going in the numbers.

Lily is more in line with your preferred specimen physically. Under normal circumstances I'm a Shizune man, but Emi and Rin's personalities have been shaped by their handicaps, so I have a burning interest into how deep and complex FLS can go with them.

Not to say I don't expect the same from Shizune, but definitely less. And even less from Lily.

Yeah, I think Hanako might actually be the girl I have the least interest in, but then, I'm just thinking of the H scenes at this point. >_>

I'm a little amused and a little offended that you seem to think "biggest boobs = gotta be Talon's target." Yes, I absolutely love big breasts. But that doesn't mean that they matter the most to me. (See: rooting for Sora in Yosuga no Sora. See: rooting for Ako in Kiss x Sis. See: rooting for Naru in Love Hina.) Of physical features, the face matters most to me of anything on a girl. And then of course there's personality. There are loads of different archetypes, of different "kinds of girl" which I absolutely love. Some of them are even mutually exclusive. Sometimes two girls will have the same attribute in common (e.g. incredibly shy) and I'll love one of them and absolutely loathe the other (e.g. Hyuuga Hinata = love, Maehara Shinobu = can't stand. Heck, they even LOOK almost the same!).

Friends IRL have tried to understand what kind of girls I like. They, too, are confounded by what to me seems to be my very logical sense of taste. I think it's because my rules are more like a matrix, and less like a pyramid (where a larger factor will always trump a smaller factor), that it makes sense to me but is hopelessly difficult for outsiders to decode. I can try to explain things to you, but it'd probably take much too long as is off-topic. Really, all I can do is give you examples of girls I have loved (as in, Mai Waifu loved) in anime and expect you to try and find some sort of pattern from there.

I'm a little amused and a little offended that you seem to think "biggest boobs = gotta be Talon's target." Yes, I absolutely love big breasts. But that doesn't mean that they matter the most to me. (See: rooting for Sora in Yosuga no Sora. See: rooting for Ako in Kiss x Sis. See: rooting for Naru in Love Hina.) Of physical features, the face matters most to me of anything on a girl. And then of course there's personality. There are loads of different archetypes, of different "kinds of girl" which I absolutely love. Some of them are even mutually exclusive. Sometimes two girls will have the same attribute in common (e.g. incredibly shy) and I'll love one of them and absolutely loathe the other (e.g. Hyuuga Hinata = love, Maehara Shinobu = can't stand. Heck, they even LOOK almost the same!).

Friends IRL have tried to understand what kind of girls I like. They, too, are confounded by what to me seems to be my very logical sense of taste. I think it's because my rules are more like a matrix, and less like a pyramid (where a larger factor will always trump a smaller factor), that it makes sense to me but is hopelessly difficult for outsiders to decode. I can try to explain things to you, but it'd probably take much too long as is off-topic. Really, all I can do is give you examples of girls I have loved (as in, Mai Waifu loved) in anime and expect you to try and find some sort of pattern from there.

Actually, when I looked at the numbers, I considered the hips/waist too. So it wasn't just about the breasts!

I've forgotten so much about Shinobu I can't really look for a pattern between your distinction between her and Hinata, but Hinata was abused as a child, so that kind of "tragic" past might be something that works for you (I think of Sakura, too).

From my consideration, I think Hanako's H-scene would be pretty boring unless she has some kind of strong personality that leaks through. A girl VERY SIMILAR to Nanaka who I don't think you would have liked much is Haru from G-Senjou, and during her H-scene her personality shone through for about 2 minutes before depreciating into a generic bang.

But the other girls fit pretty snugly into Sengoku Rance style kinky, so I'm imagining all sorts of hilarious reads for those scenes. They've got the personalities to match...well, at least Emi and Rin do.

Talon be pleased, Rin's route be finished. With this, Katawa Shoujo might come out as soon as Christmas 2011!

Man, now I'm getting a tad obsessive. o_o Put Emi's such a pure soul, and Rin so fun to hang around, I feel positively wicked for wanting to see their H scenes.

I actually prefer RAITA's design to the current incarnation of Rin. Rin here looks chubbier compared to RAITA's design, and the original has a much more athletic, or at least formed body. But I've heard part of that is illusory, as less technically accomplished anime artists try to draw clothes as "skin", making it look tight on a character. But I can't deny it's much, much more attractive.

As Doppel mentioned in an earlier post today, the Katawa Shoujo dev team updated their blog and announced that the game is confirmed for release on January 4, 2012. The bad news is, Katawa Shoujo didn't make it out before 2011 ended. ^^; The good news is, close enough and SO SOON to where we are now! Just three weeks until magic time. Can't wait to play this. And the best things of all? 100% legal and in our native language. Should be a blast.

No, I meant ... the game is for free. It's not for sale. It "will be released free of charge under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND License." So "piracy" doesn't even apply here. Or ... are you saying you're going to "find a way," as it were, to pirate this game? As something of a personal challenge? XD I don't think it's possible to pirate something which was free to start with, is it?